The Los Angeles Clippers are heading to San Antonio, and the world’s leading mathematicians will be watching.

A fundamental statistics principle is in play. It’s the Infinite Monkey Theorem, which says that if a monkey hits typewriter keys long enough, it eventually will write the complete works of William Shakespeare.

The NBA Theorem is that if Vinny Del Negro is given enough time and typewriters, the Clippers will eventually win an NBA title.

Most observers predicted a monkey would write Hamlet before Del Negro figured out the location of the space bar. But look at what he’s composed so far in the playoffs.

The Clippers won a Game 7 in Memphis on Sunday. It’s time to lighten up on the NBA’s least-respected coach. That will be hard since he now faces the league’s most revered sideline figure.

Gregg Popovich vs. Vinny looks like Yoda vs. Forrest Gump. It’s hard to see much hope for the Clippers. Then again, they had none against the Grizzlies.

“It’s a miracle,” Del Negro said.

Chris Paul and Blake Griffin were hurting. Los Angeles had blown Game 6 at home. Memphis has a snake pit of an arena. Then there’s the fact they are the Clippers, who last won a playoff series when people actually used typewriters.

That was 1984. Now Vinny did what few teams—much less the Clippers—have ever done. Win a Game 7 on the road. Could it possibly be that Del Negro is not completely out of his league?

Maybe it begins with his name—Vinny. It’s friendly but doesn’t exactly conjure respect. There has never been a president named Vinny.

This Vinny has been unfairly caricatured as a coaching doofus. You can question his pedigree, his strategy, his substitution pattern and almost everything else. But Del Negro does something right.

Namely, players play hard for him. Especially when it really matters.

They did it in Chicago, which hired Del Negro having zero coaching experience. The Bulls were cutting costs and clearing the roster in hopes of landing LeBron James.

Del Negro clashed with management and even got into a fight with GM John Paxson over the way he handled Joakim Noah. Despite such nonsense, Noah blossomed under Del Negro. The Bulls made the playoffs twice in two years and even pushed Boston to seven games.

The Bulls owed Del Negro a lot of money when they fired him, which made him attractive to the Clippers. Donald Sterling could get a coach on the cheap, which is always a Sterling priority.

When the Clips slumped after the All-Star break, the Vinny Death Watch started. Rumor was the only reason he wasn’t fired was LA didn’t have an assistant capable of stepping in, and Sterling wasn’t about to hire a new coach.

All that set Del Negro up as the fall guy in the playoffs. Then came Sunday, when Clippers backups scored 25 points in the fourth quarter.

It wasn’t a game decided by Xs and Os. Del Negro had confidence in his players and they responded. That doesn’t make him Popovich, but it should get the wolves away from his door.

With Paul and Griffin, the Clippers finally can pursue guys like Phil Jackson and not be laughed at. Del Negro’s contract expires after the season. A new coach seemed inevitable, at least until Sunday.

Now what?

Chances are Yoda Popovich will prevail in Round Two. Given the difference in talent and experience, Red Auerbach in his prime could coach the Clippers and they’d still be lucky to win two games.

The difference is Auerbach wouldn’t be blamed for the losses. Del Negro will. The guy can’t win for winning.

Images are hard to shake, and it will take more than one historic playoff win for people to stop laughing at the thought of Del Negro vs. Popovich.

But Vinny has earned a seat in front of typewriter. Give him a chance and he’ll bang out a winner.